Again, if your email program doesn’t allow for the use of a signature file, you should consider switching email programs. When preparing the design of your sig file, first you should decide what information you want to include. Once that is done, then you can decide what you want your e-business card to look like. Depending on which email program you are using, you can either create your sig file using Windows Notepad or Microsoft Word and save it as a text file (with a .txt extension), or you can create your sig file within the email program itself.
All email programs have instructions on how to set up your signature file in their “help” file. If you are using Microsoft Outlook, take the following steps to develop your sig file:
- On the menu bar, click “Tools.”
- In the drop-down menu, click “Options.”
- Click the “Mail Format” tab.
- Click the “Signatures” button.
- Then click the “New” button to add your new signature.
- Enter a name for your signature and click “Next.”
- Enter your signature into the box titled “Edit Signature” and click “Finish.”
- If you have more than one signature, pick one that will be used as a default in the “Choose Default Signature” section.
- Click “OK.”
Graphic Headers and HTML
Using graphics or html in your signature file could result in higher brand awareness and more visitors to your Web site. To increase brand power, make sure to match up your logo and colors with what can be found on your Web site and other online and offline promotional material.
If incorporating an html header or footer into your sig file is something you are considering, it is very important that it is done correctly. You may even want to look into getting your header professionally developed, because if this is done wrong it could have a negative impact on your business. You should include your telephone number and your Web address.
Once your header image has been designed, make sure that the image is saved as an html file with an extension of .htm or .html and make sure it is uploaded to a Web server. You do not want to link to an image that is saved on your computer. If you do it will appear as an attachment—and people tend not to download attachments from people they don’t know or are not expecting to hear from.